Waurika Lake Master Conservancy District receives $18,564,000 grant for system improvements
OKLAHOMA CITY –The Waurika Lake Master Conservancy District (District) received approval for $18,564,000 in funding Tuesday from the Oklahoma Water Resources Board (OWRB) to improve the District’s water infrastructure. Construction of upgrades and improvements to the system will be financed by the Oklahoma American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) grant program.
The District supplies raw water to Comanche, Duncan, Lawton, Temple, Walters, and Waurika. The District has approximately 72 miles of aged raw water line, 3 (three) pumphouses, 6 (six) meter facilities, and 16 pumps and controls. The intake structure at Waurika Lake has 8 (eight) turbine pumps which are required to operate at full capacity with at least one redundant pump at all times. The proposed project will install Variable Frequency Drives (VFD) to improve incoming power supply, replace two pumps at the intake structure, upgrade existing motors, and install new power poles, transformers, substations, telemetry, and controls.
Joe Freeman, chief of the OWRB’s Financial Assistance Division, calculated that the District’s customers will save an estimated $28,040,000 compared to traditional financing.
The ARPA grant program is administered by the OWRB with funding from the U.S. Department of the Treasury and appropriated through Senate Bill 13 for the Water and Wastewater American Rescue Plan Act grants program. This OWRB program has been structured to provide communities and other eligible entities financial resources necessary to address water and wastewater infrastructure needs within their systems. Since 1983 the Water Resources Board has approved over $6.2 billion in loans and grants for water and wastewater infrastructure improvements throughout Oklahoma.
“We are grateful to State Legislators representing the communities of Comanche, Duncan, Lawton, Temple, Walters, and Waurika for their continued support of our financial assistance programs,” said Julie Cunningham, Executive Director of the OWRB.
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Contact:
Joe Freeman
Oklahoma Water Resources Board
(405) 530-8800
Joe.Freeman@owrb.ok.gov
